Now is the right time to become an American Federation of Musicians member. From ragtime to rap, from the early phonograph to today's digital recordings, the AFM has been there for its members. And now there are more benefits available to AFM members than ever before, including a multi-million dollar pension fund, excellent contract protection, instrument and travelers insurance, work referral programs and access to licensed booking agents to keep you working.

As an AFM member, you are part of a membership of more than 80,000 musicians. Experience has proven that collective activity on behalf of individuals with similar interests is the most effective way to achieve a goal. The AFM can negotiate agreements and administer contracts, procure valuable benefits and achieve legislative goals. A single musician has no such power.

The AFM has a proud history of managing change rather than being victimized by it. We find strength in adversity, and when the going gets tough, we get creative - all on your behalf.

Like the industry, the AFM is also changing and evolving, and its policies and programs will move in new directions dictated by its members. As a member, you will determine these directions through your interest and involvement. Your membership card will be your key to participation in governing your union, keeping it responsive to your needs and enabling it to serve you better. To become a member now, visit www.afm.org/join.

TV, Film Agreements Extended Again; Contract Streaming Fight Begins

On March 18, after a week of intense negotiations, an agreement was
reached with major Hollywood film producers and their television film
counterparts to extend the existing Theatrical and Motion Picture Film
agreements until November 14, 2019, with a 2% increase in wages. As was agreed
one year ago, the parties deemed a short-term contract solution as the better
alternative to the existing deadlock resulting from the producers’ failure to
adequately address the Federation’s goal of creating residual payments for
films and content made originally for streaming platforms.

The opening day of negotiations began with powerful personal stories told
by talented musicians whose livelihoods have been substantially supported by
film and media agreements. These musicians explained, better than anyone else
possibly could, how the current industry trend toward a distribution model
lacking a residual compensation base would dramatically and negatively impact
their lives. Future generations of new musicians would not be able to sustain a
mainstream lifestyle, support their families, or retire in dignity.

For the first time, the studios did propose a streaming residual for
content made for new media, but the proposal was far from adequate. The studios
think that, because scoring occurs in the post-production phase of filmmaking,
musicians should be treated like any other craft unit instead of like the
performers we are. The studios are afraid that, if they were to agree to a
fixed percentage residual resulting in real money for musicians, IATSE (the
union representing stage employees) would seek to pattern-bargain the same
percentage structure. That would result in a substantially greater obligation
for the studios, given that IATSE typically renders services for a much longer
period of time on a production, thus generating much greater wages.

The producers’ made for new media proposal to the Federation would have
provided a one-time payment of 1% of all wages earned, paid pro-rata to the
musicians involved in scoring. For example, on a scoring budget of $250,000,
the producer would pay a total of $2,500. After an administrative expense
deduction of 20%, the remaining $2,000 would be split by all participating
musicians. If there were 100 musicians on the session, that would yield a
single payment of no more than $20 per musician.

Not only is the money inadequate, but the proposed payment would apply
only to high budget subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) programs of at least 96
minutes or more that are subsequently released in theaters in the US or Canada,
where an admission fee is charged. In such circumstances, only a small fraction
of streaming productions would even be covered.

The Federation counterproposed a fixed residual following a 90-day window,
with percentages starting at 35%, and declining annually thereafter, modified
by established subscriber tiers on an initial residual base of $1,000. Assuming
12 years of exhibition, each musician would receive $1,815 over the 12-year
period. Additionally, the Federation proposed payment on high budget
advertiser-supported streaming (AVOD). However, the producers rejected these
proposals, which could have paved the way for acceptable payments and also
significant new revenue for the AFM pension fund from television, film, and
other content exhibition via streaming.

Musicians are creative artists who contribute as much value to a film as
the actors, writers, and directors. We deserve compensation that reflects our
value. As streaming consumption has grown, television networks and film studios
have agreed to make residual payments and increased pension and health
contributions to actors, writers, and directors, when content is made for
streaming, but musicians have been uniquely excluded. That is unfair and
unacceptable. The Federation will continue to fight hard for revenue from
streaming that is more closely aligned with standards achieved by other
performer guilds.

We will reconvene our negotiations in November. But in the meantime, the
AFM International Executive Board (IEB) has voted to endorse and approve a
budget and plan for a Federation-wide organizing campaign designed to persuade
film, TV, and content producers that a fair revenue share from streaming must
be addressed. Producers must agree to adapt our contracts to changes in
technology by ensuring that we maintain good jobs, secure increases in
contributions to our pension fund, and a rightful place in the future of media.

In my March 12 morning address during the prenegotiation rally outside the
doors of the producers’ offices, I stated that the economy of streaming media
is booming, but those of us who make the music—instrumentalists, composers,
copyists, arrangers—are not receiving our fair share of the pie. Digital
revenue in the entertainment and media industry totaled $616 billion worldwide
in 2013. That figure is expected to top $1 trillion this year.

Under the Federation’s recent Sound Recording Labor Agreement, record
labels now contribute more than $10 million from streaming each year toward our
pension and residual funds. TV and film producers, despite their multi-billion
dollar balance sheets, have refused to share anything meaningful from
streaming, jeopardizing the ability of musicians to earn a living wage in media
today, as well as to retire with dignity in the future.

Further to our just-concluded round of film negotiations, I want to take
this opportunity to offer my sincerest thanks to the many talented musicians,
members of the AFM IEB, local union officers, and player representatives from
across the Federation who spent countless hours working to identify, articulate,
and prioritize workplace issues in advance of our discussions with the
producers. We had the benefit of superb legal representation from Susan Davis
of Cohen, Weiss and Simon, as well as in-house counsel Jennifer Garner and Russ
Naymark. Lastly, my thanks go to Electronic Media Services Division Director
Pat Varriale, Contract Administrator Matt Allen, and all the hardworking
Federation staff for their valuable contributions throughout the process.

Next
month in this column, look for additional information about our member-driven
campaign to win industry standard wages and additional pension contributions
for musicians who record and perform content made for streaming platforms.

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Earlier this year, the AFM moved its headquarters offices in New York City from the sixth floor to the ninth floor at 1501 Broadway—also known as the Paramount Building because it served as the New York headquarters for Paramount Pictures.

At 6:59 pm Monday evening, September 9, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) management issued a “take it or leave it” offer to the BSO Musicians which will be presented to the orchestra for a vote this evening, September 10. The proposal contained wage and benefit cuts of 20%. The federal mediators proposed an extension of negotiations […]